Friday, December 9, 2011

For your viewing (dis)pleasure, a video re-enactment of today's trade between the Montreal Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes. Starring Jim Rutherford as "seller" and Pierre Gauthier as "gullible customer." Also featuring a cameo by Tomas Kaberle as "Albatross."

12 comments:

Every game, every second I am hoping for MTL wins. Too invested and too much a fan not to but at this point, more than anything, I would like to proven wrong about this team, this coaching staff and management (in particular). I am not too sure who looked at the numbers over the next three years and decided 12 mil = 3.8 million but it does sound like proper Canadien accounting....damn it.

I saw the headline and thought "Nooooooooo!" then wondered if it was a joke. It is a joke -- on us. What *is* it with this management team? First Gomez, now Kaberle. I'll always be a hopeless Habs follower, but I think it's time to look for a new team to cheer for until they rebuild themselves. Again.

Is this a freaking joke!!! I feel so bad for Martin. Its not his fault its the Goats fault. Pierre Gauthier cares nothing about Montreal. The proof is he'd rather live in the good 'ol U S of A. Its almost as if he purposefully wants to run the team into the ground. What is the team going to do with Subban and Price? Does the goat have an understanding of salary cap. These guys have contracts coming up and if they benchmark themselves on Gomez (7mil+) what does he think they will want to sign for. And with all these pathetic moves does he even think they will want to sign. He cares nothing about Montreal.

As for Gomez.... Once he is back from his fantasy injury. I will be interested in seeing if the crowd at the Bell Centre normally known for its short tempered fuse doesnt start booing him off the ice like they did Brisebois.

Gomez is a bad Joke... Kaberle is a bad joke. the GM is a seriously pathetic joke and then I think of poor Jacques Martin... Over 1000 games coaching, with a solid record but never a true winner to end his career in the shakels of PG and the shame of a once proud Bleu Blanc Rouge.

@Woodvid: Who to cheer for... really our options are limited. Original 6 teams are hard to like. The LEAFS... NEVER!!!; the Bruins... just the thought of it sickens me.; Avery and the Blueshirts.. impossible. Philly OMG NO... Detroit... Its another great concession looking to rebuild...

so I think the only sensible solution until the Nordiques reappear... the WPG JETS!

It' Christmas, and there you are in the corner of a dingy bar on the wrong side of town. Tears slowly dripping in your beers. Alone.

If you don't like it, why don't you wait and see how it actually turns out? Enjoy your beer and the quite time... will make the good times that much better.

It's a process and this is the next step - nothing more or less. Nobody knows how this will turn out, so stop pretending you do and assume it will go well. You might be wrong, but at least you will feel better.

Now I am going to eat crow and say that Kaberle looked good, not only on the powerplay but moving the puck in his own end. Better than Weber, and he should be, and a solid performer.

The issue isn't the players. The issue is the game plan is faulty. You can not sit on a lead. The puck comes into your end. You chase the puck and carrier. The refs watch. You get penalties. The other team scores. What is so hard about that concept for a certain coach to grasp. This is not the NHL 2002. It has changed.

The Canadiens have the talent to go for it. Martin would make a great assistant coach, he makes folks defensively responsible. But the team needs him to get with this decade or move on.

J.T., I don't disagree with much of what you write, but I find myself in strong disagreement with both of your last two pieces.

The fire-JM bandwagon has been around since the beginning of the season, gaining momentum with the team's early struggles, then losing a little, then regaining it all with the recent series of blown leads and shootout losses. While I have often been critical of Jacques Martin, I have never jumped on that bandwagon, and I'm not about to now. Not only do I think he's a very good coach, I think he's the best coach available for this team right now. Even leaving aside the French language requirement, I don't think there's anyone at all out there who could do a better job. I'll go further. I think that with any of the possible candidates whose names have been tossed into the debate - Therrien, Carbonneau, Hartley, Roy, Crawford - the Habs would be in worse shape than they are right now. With all the injuries and the inexperience, particularly on defence, we're just not that good a team; and I think the fact that we're still within sight of a playoff position is largely owing to JM's coaching.

The team's main problem is the absence of an effective powerplay, a problem which wouldn't exist if Markov had been able to start the season as foreseen. Every game the Habs have lost with the exception of the 4-1 loss to Calgary at the beginning of the season has been by a goal or two, the second often being an empty-netter. They have not been blown out, and I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of bad games they've played. If they had a powerplay in their arsenal, many of their 1-goal losses would have been victories.

Which brings me to the Tomas Kaberle deal. If Kaberle can play at somewhere near the level he did in Toronto, this trade could be a steal. He didn't fit with Boston (although he did collect 11 points in the playoffs) and he has struggled with Carolina, but does that mean he should be written off? The single game he's played with us suggests otherwise, although of course a single game is not enough to base a judgment on.

Nor do I think the contract needs to be an albatross. Spacek would have been gone on July 1, so the only thing we are giving up is cap room over the next two years, a problem which will not arise if Kaberle fits well and the team decides it wants to keep him. We don't know if or when Markov will be back. The Habs have struggled in the first half of every one of the last few seasons for lack of a powerplay quarterback. If we've found one in Tomas Kaberle, it's a struggle we won't have to go through next year. We may start the season with a powerplay of over 20% rather than around 10%.

And if Kaberle doesn't fit, his salary and contract are not such that he should be untradeable. Worst case scenario, he can be waived.

The only way it makes sense to slam this deal is if one takes the position that Gauthier should have done nothing, simply thrown in the towel on the season with a view to obtaining a lottery pick. The problem with that position is that it's far from a certainty. Even without a powerplay, the Habs could well finish in 9th or 10th and get nothing - no lottery pick, no playoffs. I prefer the team to be as competitive as possible.

The Habs have officially become the leafs picking up Kaberle and his ridiculous contract. Gill, Kaberle and Campoli on defense is laughable. Even some fans are optimistic over the move. Truly a torontonian reaction. Pathetic.

Awoke this morning to the news of JM getting fired. A year too late for me. Muller could have gotten the job if PG had acted sooner.

Now fire PG after Christmas let the rebuilding begin.

Wish Cunneyworth all the best but he is dealt a losing hand. Devils, Bruins, Hawks and the Jets (very good on home ice) looking for revenge for Price spoiling their party comment could be a disaster for him. JM was not a great coach but the players are really the problem and that is Gainey and PG's fault.

About Me

My name is Leigh Anne Power, and I am a Habs fan. I'm kind of obsessed, so even though the world doesn't need another Habs blog, I can't help it. If you choose to follow this blog on Twitter, it's at @habsloyalist. The link's below.